[syn: rocker, cradle]
VERB (6)
1. hold gently and carefully;
- Example: "He cradles the child in his arms"
2. bring up from infancy;
3. hold or place in or as if in a cradle;
- Example: "He cradled the infant in his arms"
4. cut grain with a cradle scythe;
5. wash in a cradle;
- Example: "cradle gold"
6. run with the stick;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Cradle \Cra"dle\, v. i.
To lie or lodge, as in a cradle.
[1913 Webster]
Withered roots and husks wherein the acorn cradled.
--Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Cradle \Cra"dle\ (kr[=a]d'l), n. [AS. cradel, cradol, prob. from
Celtic; cf. Gael. creathall, Ir. craidhal, W. cryd a shaking
or rocking, a cradle; perh. akin to E. crate.]
1. A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or
swinging on pivots; hence, the place of origin, or in
which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier
period of existence; as, a cradle of crime; the cradle of
liberty.
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The cradle that received thee at thy birth.
--Cowper.
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No sooner was I crept out of my cradle
But I was made a king, at nine months old. --Shak.
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2. Infancy, or very early life.
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From their cradles bred together. --Shak.
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A form of worship in which they had been educated
from their cradles. --Clarendon.
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3. (Agric.) An implement consisting of a broad scythe for
cutting grain, with a set of long fingers parallel to the
scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it
evenly in a swath.
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4. (Engraving) A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by
a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the
plate, so preparing the ground.
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5. A framework of timbers, or iron bars, moving upon ways or
rollers, used to support, lift, or carry ships or other
vessels, heavy guns, etc., as up an inclined plane, or
across a strip of land, or in launching a ship.
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6. (Med.)
(a) A case for a broken or dislocated limb.
(b) A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the
person.
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7. (Mining)
(a) A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous
earth; -- also called a rocker. [U.S.]
(b) A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
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8. (Carp.) The ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches
intended to be covered with plaster. --Knight.
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9. (Naut.) The basket or apparatus in which, when a line has
been made fast to a wrecked ship from the shore, the
people are brought off from the wreck.
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Cat's cradle. See under Cat.
Cradle hole, a sunken place in a road, caused by thawing,
or by travel over a soft spot.
Cradle scythe, a broad scythe used in a cradle for cutting
grain.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Cradle \Cra"dle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cradled (-d'ld); p. pr.
& vb. n. Cradling (-dl?ng).]
1. To lay to rest, or rock, as in a cradle; to lull or quiet,
as by rocking.
[1913 Webster]
It cradles their fears to sleep. --D. A. Clark.
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2. To nurse or train in infancy.
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He that hath been cradled in majesty will not leave
the throne to play with beggars. --Glanvill.
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3. To cut and lay with a cradle, as grain.
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4. To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
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In Lombardy . . . boats are cradled and transported
over the grade. --Knight.
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To cradle a picture, to put ribs across the back of a
picture, to prevent the panels from warping.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
cradle
n 1: a baby bed with sides and rockers
2: where something originated or was nurtured in its early
existence; "the birthplace of civilization" [syn:
birthplace, cradle, place of origin, provenance,
provenience]
3: birth of a person; "he was taught from the cradle never to
cry"
4: a trough that can be rocked back and forth; used by gold
miners to shake auriferous earth in water in order to
separate the gold [syn: rocker, cradle]
v 1: hold gently and carefully; "He cradles the child in his
arms"
2: bring up from infancy
3: hold or place in or as if in a cradle; "He cradled the infant
in his arms"
4: cut grain with a cradle scythe
5: wash in a cradle; "cradle gold"
6: run with the stick
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
190 Moby Thesaurus words for "cradle":
Colonial bed, Hollywood bed, Vaterland, afford support, appease,
babyhood, back, back up, bassinet, bear, bear up, bed,
bed-davenport, beginnings, berth, birth, birthplace, bolster,
bolster up, brace, breeding place, brooder, bunk, bunk bed,
buoy up, buttress, calm, calm down, camp bed, care for, carry,
cherish, childhood, clarifier, coddle, colander, compose, cool,
cosset, cot, crib, cribble, crutch, cultivate, cushion, day bed,
door bed, double bed, double bunk, dry-nurse, dulcify, duplex bed,
ease, even out, fatherland, feather bed, feed, filter,
fold-away bed, fondle, forcing bed, foster, four-poster,
freshman year, genesis, gentle, give support, hammock, hatchery,
hold, hold up, home, homeground, homeland, hospital bed, hotbed,
hush, inception, inchoation, incipience, incipiency, incubator,
incunabula, infancy, keep afloat, keep up, king-size bed,
la patrie, lavish care on, lend support, lixiviator, lower berth,
lull, mainstay, maintain, mollify, mother, mother country,
motherland, my Angel-infancy, nascence, nascency, native land,
native soil, nativity, nest, nestle, nidus, nourish, nurse,
nursery, nurture, origin, origination, pacify, pallet, pamper,
panel bed, parturition, patria, percolator, pillow, pipe berth,
poster bed, pour balm into, pregnancy, prop, purifier, put to bed,
quarter berth, queen-size bed, quell, quiet, refiner, refinery,
reinforce, rest, riddle, rock, rock to sleep, rocker,
roll-away bed, rookery, screen, shore, shore up, shoulder, sieve,
sifter, single bed, smooth, smooth down, smooth over, smoothen,
sofa-bed, soothe, spoon-feed, stabilize, stay, steady, still,
strainer, subdue, subsidize, subvention, suckle, support, sustain,
tester bed, the nursery, the old country, three-quarter bed,
tranquilize, truckle bed, trundle bed, tuck in, underbrace,
undergird, underlie, underpin, underset, upbear, uphold, upkeep,
wet-nurse, winnow, winnowing basket, winnowing fan,
winnowing machine, youth